The family of a girl who says she was sexually abused by her third grade teacher at a Harlem public school is suing the Department of Education for failing to stop the alleged attacks.
“Rafael Sosa was able to assault” the 8-year-old girl because of the DOE didn’t properly supervise the teacher, the Manhattan Supreme Court suit says.
The girl, identified as Jane Doe, was repeatedly verbally, physically and sexually abused at Public School 208 on W. 111th Street over a period of six months during the 2011-2012 school year, the suit says.
Sosa was arrested in 2012 after the girl told her mom about the alleged abuse.
He was acquitted of felony sex abuse charges last year, but convicted of endangering the welfare of a child. Prosecutors said he’d written the girl several inappropriate emails, including one where he encouraged her to call him “dad.”
He was sentenced to one-year in jail.
The suit, which does not name Sosa, seeks $1 million in damages for the girl and $100,000 in damages for her mother (source).
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